US6973030B2 - Method and apparatus for controlling multiple logical data flow in a variable data rate environment - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus that enables incremental control the flow of downlink data on an external interface-by-interface basis, reducing the risk of repeatedly exhausting internal memory resources. A mobile device (300), having a plurality of device interfaces (328–330) for transmitting data received from a network (306) through a network controller (302), includes an identity associating layer (322) that associates identifiers with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces. A general resource indicator (334) generates a first indication in response to system memory of the mobile device being substantially exhausted, and a private resource indicator (336) generates a second indication in response to private resources corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces being substantially exhausted. A control processing unit (332) generates a flow control indication signal in response to the first indication, the second indication, flow control information corresponding to the plurality of interfaces, and the identifiers associated by the identity associating layer. A bit-map generator (338) generates a bit-map, based on the flow control indication signal, that is transmitted to the radio network controller, which interprets the bit-map to discretely control transmission of data from the radio network controller to the plurality of device interfaces.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to data transfer, and in particular, the present invention relates to control of the flow of data over multiple user interface types between a mobile device and one or more user hosts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system have introduced the capability of user data interchange within mobile wireless products. GPRS, and its superset, EDGE, permit the efficient use of radio and network resources when data transmission characteristics are i) packet based, ii) intermittent and non-periodic, iii) possibly frequent, with small transfers of data, e.g. less than 500 octets, or iv) possibly infrequent, with large transfers of data, e.g. more than several hundred kilobytes. User applications may include Internet browsers, electronic mail and so on. GPRS/EDGE radio access network (GERAN) is the real-time migration path for GPRS/EDGE into 3rd generation wireless.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application environment of a mobile wireless device. Applications that utilize data transfer capabilities of GPRS/EDGE may be widely distributed over an application environment of a mobile wireless device. For example, certain applications may be internal to the user equipment device, such as an internal browser application, while others may reside on a remote host, such as a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an MP3 player, and so forth. In addition, the interconnection scheme employed to move data between the mobile wireless device and the remote host may vary substantially and exhibit distinctly different characteristics from one remote host to another remote host.

For example, as illustrated inFIG. 1, a user may have an electronic mail application resident on aPC host100 that is connected to a mobilewireless device102 by a physical serial data connection104, such as an RS232 connection for example, while at the same time a calendar application resides on aPDA host106 connected to the mobilewireless device102 using an infrared data association (IrDA)interface108 and its associated link control logic, or an audio application resides on anMP3 player host110 connected to the mobilewireless device102 using a radio frequency (RF) wirelesslocal link112, such as HomeRF or Bluetooth. Other types of mobile wireless device to host interfaces may be utilized as well, such as such as a universal serial bus (USB), or Ethernet connection, each of which have distinctly differing data transfer characteristics including different data rates and isochronicity.

These variances in actual data rates over multiple interface types between the mobilewireless device102 and the multiple user hosts100,106 and110, along with the requirement for mobile user terminals to support higher data rates in the near future, tend to be problematic in that progressively higher downlink data transfer rates, combined with the extreme variability of the external device interfaces cause internal memory resources of the mobilewireless device102 to be repeatedly exhausted. Repeated exhaustion of memory resources results in a cascading effect of data protocol timeouts, resetting of transport protocol congestion window sizes and the initiation of controlled transmission roll-back and re-start. The repetition of these unnecessary procedures seriously impacts the downlink data throughput since the radio frequency (RF) link between the network and the mobile wireless device is overburdened with wasted data. In addition, it is desirable that a discontinuity of data flow to one external device does not impact the data throughput or resource availability to all other external devices, and/or internal applications to which the mobile user equipment is connected.

Current GPRS implementation does not address this problem at all, but rather relies on the host application to provide feedback to the application or server at the other end in order to control the flow of downlink data. For example, some applications provide repeated acknowledgements at the transport layer when operating in a “stream-oriented” mode with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). In addition, the self-clocking TCP acknowledgements serve to regulate the flow somewhat, but also may cause other problems with regard to the TCP congestion window, the operation of which is designed for the wireline environment. Any delay in acknowledgement beyond a certain reasonable amount makes the sending TCP think that there is congestion on the network, i.e. that the routers between the two hosts have run out of packet queues. TCP then resets its window size to 1 stops sending and waits a pseudo-random time period to enable the router queues to flush. This severely impacts data flow, e.g. by more than one and attimes 2 orders of magnitude.

In the case of an unacknowledged transport layer protocol, such as the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the mobile user equipment would not “clock” the sender at all, and any excess data beyond the available resources of the mobile user equipment is simply thrown away. Due to the latency encountered in accessing a wireless packet data network, and the fact that the proposed new higher data rates on the downlink are expected to be many times faster than the ability for the application to signal the far end on the uplink, the mobile wireless device is likely to exhaust itself of memory resources before the far end even receives any flow control information.

Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for enabling improved flow control over multiple data streams between a mobile wireless device and a network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by making reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of an application environment of a mobile wireless device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of multiple logic data flow control in a communication system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of multiple logic data flow control in a variable data environment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flow control bit-map according to the present invention.

FIGS. 5A–5E are flowcharts of a method for controlling multiple logical data flow in a variable data rate environment according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is a method and apparatus that efficiently enables a mobile wireless device to incrementally control the flow of downlink data on an external interface-by-interface basis, reducing the risk of repeatedly exhausting internal memory resources. A data stack of a mobile device, having a plurality of device interfaces for transmitting data received from a network through a network controller, includes an identity associating layer that associates identifiers with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces. A general resource indicator generates a first indication in response to system memory of the mobile device being substantially exhausted, and a private resource indicator generates a second indication in response to private resources corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces being substantially exhausted. A control processing unit generates a flow control indication signal in response to the first indication, the second indication, flow control information corresponding to the plurality of interfaces, and the identifiers associated by the identity associating layer. A bit-map generator generates a bit-map, based on the flow control indication signal, that is transmitted to the radio network controller, which interprets the bit-map to discretely control transmission of data from the radio network controller to the plurality of device interfaces.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of multiple logic data flow control in a communication system. As illustrated inFIG. 2, in a communication system including both a universal mobile telephone system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) platform and a GERAN platform environment, for example, commonly referred to as a UTRAN/GERANcommunication system200, control information is exchanged between amobile device202 and anetwork204 to enable transmission of data betweenmobile device202 andnetwork204. One technique for handling different types of data communication betweenmobile device202 andnetwork204 is to provide a different radio bearer for each service. The radio bearer, which provides the capability for information transfer over a radio interface and is characterized by attributes such as information transfer rate (i.e., bit rate or throughput) and delay requirements, etc., is identified by a radio bearer identity.

For example, as illustrated inFIG. 2, according to the present invention, each internet protocol addressservice access point206 associated withmobile device202 is identified by a network service access point identifier (NSAPI)208, which is in turn is logically bound to a radio access bearer identification (RAB-ID)210. In both a UTRAN platform environment and a GERAN platform environment, for example, a packet data protocol (PDP) context identification is bound to radio access bearer identity (RAB-ID)210, which indirectly identifies both the corresponding network serviceaccess point identifier208 and anidentifier212 associated with the data identified by the packet data protocol context. For example,identifier212 could be a radio bearer identity (RB-ID), or a packet flow identifier.

Using this association, themobile device202 associates the data stream information, associated with a certain packet data protocol context, with radio bearer identity information corresponding to themobile device202. As illustrated inFIG. 2,radio bearer identity212 is mapped to a corresponding position in a flow control bit map that is transmitted frommobile device202 tonetwork204 through aradio network controller214, a servingGSM support node216, and a gatewayGPRS support node218 associated with the IP address, so thatradio network controller214 has access toradio bearer identity212.

A GSM GPRS/EDGE environment differs slightly from a UTRAN/GERAN environment in that radio access bearer identity (RAB-ID)210 indirectly identifies both the corresponding network serviceaccess point identifier208 and a packet flow identifier identifying a temporary block flow, rather than radio bearer identity (RB-ID)212. As a result, in a GPRS/EDGE environment, packet flow identifier is mapped to a corresponding position in a flow control bit map that is transmitted frommobile device202 tonetwork204 throughradio network controller214, servingGSM support node216, and gateway GPRS support node (GGSN)218 associated with the IP address, so that radio network controller has access to the packet flow identifier.

As will be described below, the present invention utilizes the association of an identifier, such as the radio bearer identity in a UTRAN/GERAN communication system, for example, or the packet flow identifier in a GSM GPRS/EDGE communication system, to each packet data protocol context to provide fine flow control, enabling the starting and stopping of data flow associated with each packet data protocol context in radio layers without having to signal back over multiple interfaces to upper network elements, such as servingGPRS support node216 and gatewayGPRS support node218.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of multiple logic data flow control in a variable data environment according to the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 3, according to the present invention, a communication system, such as a UTRAN/GERAN communication system or a GSM GPRS/EDGE communication system, for example, includes a wirelessmobile device300, such as a radiotelephone or other wireless communication device, coupled to aradio network controller302 along a radio frequency (RF)interface304.Mobile device300 exchanges data with anetwork306 throughradio network controller302, a serving GPRS support node (SGSN)308 and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN)310.

Adata stack312 located withinmobile device300 includes hierarchically related control layers, such as a radio link control (RLC)layer314, a medium access control (MAC)layer316, aphysical layer318, and a radio frequency (RF)hardware layer320. In addition,data stack312 includes anidentity associating layer322 and aframe transport layer324. In a UTRAN/GERAN environment,identity associating layer322 andframe transport layer324 would correspond to a packet data protocol context/radio bearer identity associater and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, respectively, while in a GSM GPRS/EDGE environment,identity associating layer322 andframe transport layer324 would correspond to a packet data protocol context/packet flow indentifier associater and a subnetwork convergence/divergence protocol (SNDCP), respectively.

A multiplexer and external devicelink protocol unit326 receives one or more data streams fromdata stack312 and multiplexes and directs the received data streams to corresponding one ormore device interfaces328–330 that are coupled to corresponding external hosts (not shown), such as a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), or an MP3 player, for example, or that are internal tomobile device300, such as an internal browser or e-mail application or the like. For example, multiplexer and external devicelink protocol unit326 directs a data stream associated with a PDA connected tomobile device300 atdevice interface328, or directs a data stream associated with a PC connected tomobile device300 atdevice interface330, and so forth. It is understood that while three device interfaces are shown inFIG. 3, the present invention is intended to apply to any number of device interfaces.

Multiplexer and external devicelink protocol unit326 also transmits flow control information received from the external devices viainterfaces328–330, such as an indication that the coupling with the external host has been corrupted or interrupted, or re-coupled after having been previously interrupted, to acontrol processing unit332 on a per stream basis. In addition to the flow control information fromlink protocol unit326,control processing unit332 also receives packet data protocol context control data corresponding todevice interfaces328–330 generated byID associating layer322 that includes information related to identifiers associated with the packet data protocol context control data. According to the present invention, the identifiers correspond to radio bearer identities, for example, or a packet flow indicator.

In addition, a generalresource availability indicator334 transmits an indication to controlprocessing unit332 when system memory or process creation resources ofmobile device300 have been substantially exhausted, or have reached a “low-water mark”. Similarly, an indication is transmitted from a privateresource availability indicator336 to controlprocessing unit332 when private resources, such as a per-packet data protocol context or per-external interface memory pool, have been substantially exhausted, or have reached a logical “low-water mark”.

In this way, according to the present invention,control processing unit332 receives an association of a packet data protocol context to an identifier fromID associating layer322 that enables the present invention to identify and distinguish between separate data flow streams between each ofdevice interfaces328–330, along with status information, such as the availability of both private and system resources and flow control information forwarded fromdevice interfaces328–330, that would causemobile device300 to either disable or enable the flow of information tomobile device300 fromnetwork306, as will be described below. Based on the association of the packet data protocol context to the identifier and the status information received,control processing unit332 transmits a flow control indication, containing the value of the identifier and instructions as to whether to suspend data flow in the downlink, to a flow control bit-map generator338. Upon receipt of the flow control indication, bit-map generator338 creates a flow control bit map for transmission toradio network controller302 that properly reflects the control processing intentions ofmobile device300.

According to the present invention, the identifier associated with the packet data protocol context corresponds, for example, toradio bearer identity210 in a UTRAN/GERAN system, and to a packet flow identifier in a GSM GPRS/EDGE system.

As illustrated inFIG. 3,radio network controller302 includes adata stack340, aqueuing mechanism342 and acontrol processing unit344.Data stack340 includes control layers that are hierarchically equivalent to corresponding control layers in data stack312 ofmobile device300, such as radiolink control layer314, mediumaccess control layer316,physical layer318 andRF hardware layer320.

According to the present invention, depending upon the particular system requirements, the bit-map generated by bit-map generator338 is transmitted along one of three logical paths toradio network controller302. For example, bit-map may be transmitted along radiolink control layer314, mediumaccess control layer316, orphysical layer318, or multiple logical locations may be involved, depending on the specific implementation requirements that are to be considered.

Queuing mechanism342 receives and organizes data transmitted fromnetwork306 toradio network controller302.Control processing unit344 receives and interprets the bit-map values arriving frommobile device300 alongair interface304, and enables or disables downlink data flow tomobile device300 based on the information contained in the bit-map. For example, control of transmission of the downlink data fromradio network controller302 tomobile device300 is dependent upon the bit-map values received byradio network controller302 and their location in the received bit-map. The downlink data stream, which is transmitted fromradio network controller302 tomobile device300 alongair interface304 when the bit-map values frommobile device300 are interpreted bycontrol processing unit344 as instructingradio network controller302 to enable the downlink data flow to the identified one ofdevice interfaces328–330, is directed bylink protocol unit326 to one ofdevice interfaces328–330. However, when the bit-map values are interpreted bycontrol processing unit344 as instructing theradio network controller302 to disable the downlink data flow to interface328, the downlink data flow remains withinqueuing mechanism342 untilcontrol processing unit344 subsequently receives bit-map values instructing that the downlink data flow to interface328 be enabled.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a flow control bit-map according to the present invention. As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, a flow control bit-map400 generated by bit-map generator338 includes a globalflow control bit402 for stopping and starting downlink data flow associated with all packet data protocol contexts, an offsetportion404, and a flowcontrol bit portion406. Offsetportion404 is optional and contains offset bits405, which, for example, may be utilized to expand the meaning of bits contained in a flowcontrol bit portion406. The bits located within flowcontrol bit portion406, which are utilized to represent packet data protocol context/identifier bindings, are set or cleared bymobile device300 depending upon whether the associated data stream is to be enabled or disabled. Each of the bits contained within flowcontrol bit portion406 correspond to the identifier associated with a specific packet data protocol context, which according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is limited to a maximum number of fourteen bits, i.e., seven bits in each direction. However, it is understood that any number of bits may be utilized. For example, according to the present invention, in a UTRAN/GERAN system, each of the bits in flowcontrol bit portion406 corresponds to the radio bearer identity of a specific packet data protocol context, for example, or to the packet flow identifier in a GSM GPRS/EDGE system

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, based upon the information received fromcontrol processing unit326, bit-map generator332 generates bit-map400 to enable incremental control of the flow of downlink data todevice interfaces328–330. In particular, according to the present invention, once a first host device is coupled tomobile device300, such as when an MP3 player is coupled todevice interface328 via a local RF link, such as a Bluetooth connection for example, and corresponding data begins to be downloaded fromnetwork306 tomobile device300 for transmission to the MP3 player viadevice interface328,ID associating layer322 associates the packet data protocol context corresponding to the data flow with an identifier associated with the data identified by the packet data protocol context, such as a radio bearer identity, for example, or a packet flow identifier. The corresponding data flow stream is transmitted fromID associating layer322 to linkprotocol unit326, which directs the data flow todevice interface328, and control information corresponding to the identifier is transmitted fromID associating layer322 to controlprocessing unit332.

Similarly, once a second host is coupled tomobile device300, such when a PDA is coupled todevice interface329 via a local infrared link, for example, and corresponding data begins to be downloaded fromnetwork306 tomobile device300 for transmission to the PDA viadevice interface329,ID associating layer322 associates the packet data protocol context corresponding to the data flow with an identifier associated with the data identified by the packet data protocol context, such as radio bearer identity, for example, or a packet flow identifier. The corresponding data flow stream is transmitted fromID associating layer322 to linkprotocol unit326 which directs the data flow todevice interface329, and control information corresponding to the identifier is transmitted byID associating layer322 to controlprocessing unit332. This associating of the packet data protocol context corresponding to the data flow with an identifier associated with the data identified by the packet data protocol context is performed byID associating layer322 for each ofdevice interfaces328–330.

Upon receiving information corresponding to the identifier associated with the packet data protocol contexts corresponding todevice interfaces328–330,control processing unit332 transmits a flow control indication signal containing the value of the identifier, i.e., the radio bearer identity or the packet flow identifier, for example, and an indication as to whether to enable or disable the associated data flow stream to bit-map generator338.Mobile device300 then transmits bit-map400 generated by bit-map generator338 toradio network controller302 via one of control layers314-318, depending upon the specific system requirements.

In this way,link protocol unit326 transmits flow control information received on a per-data stream basis fromdevice interfaces328–330 to informcontrol processing unit332 of congestion problems. Therefore, when congestion occurs atdevice interface328, for example, such as when the coupling between the MP3 player host anddevice interface328 is interrupted as a result of being momentarily moved outside the range of the local RF link, for example,link protocol unit326 transmits flow control information informing of the interruption to controlprocessing unit322. Oncecontrol processing unit332 subsequently receives an indication fromprivate resource indicator336 that corresponding resources have been exhausted and reached a logical “low-water mark”,control processing unit332 transmits an indication containing the corresponding identifier to bit-map generator338, along with an instruction to disable the corresponding downlink data flow, i.e., todevice interface328. Bit-map generator338 sets a bit representing the corresponding identifier of the associated packet data protocol context contained within flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400 to instructradio network controller302 to disable the data flow stream associated with that identifier. For example, according to the present invention, the data flow stream associated with the corresponding radio bearer identity, or with the corresponding packet flow identifier is disabled.

This process is performed for each ofdevice interfaces328–330 so that, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 4, if in addition to the first device interface, i.e.,interface328,control processing unit332 indicates that the second, fourth and seventh device interfaces are also to be disabled and that the third, fifth, sixth and eighth device interfaces are to be enabled, bit-map generator338 generates bit-map400 so that flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400 contains an indication to disable downlink data streams associated with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the first, second, fourth and seventh device interfaces and to enable downlink data streams associated with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the third, fifth, sixth and eighth device interfaces, as illustrated inFIG. 4.

In addition, when there are excess processing activities taking place withinmobile device300 so that the entire resource availability ofmobile device300 is being occupied, making it desirable to disable the downlink data stream flow tomobile device300 entirely,general resource indicator334 sends an indication to controlprocessing unit332, which then transmits an indication to disable all downlink data streams to bit-map generator338, which then sets globalflow control bit402 to disable.

Once transmitted overRF interface304 frommobile device300 toradio network controller302,control processing unit344 interprets bit-map400 and enables or disables the downlink data flow tomobile device300 based on the identifier corresponding to each of the bits located in flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400. For example,control processing unit344 recognizes that the bit corresponding to the identifier associated with the data stream corresponding todevice interface328 is set to disable, and therefore disables the reading of data from queuingmechanism342 corresponding to that data stream. The downlink data stream that is subsequently transmitted fromnetwork306 continues to be inserted withinqueuing mechanism342 untilcontrol processing unit344 receives a next bit-map with an indication to enable the data stream flow corresponding todevice interface328. This enabling and disabling process is also performed for the remaining device interfaces329–330. In addition, whencontrol processing unit344 recognizes that globalflow control bit402 of bit-map400 has been set to disable, all downlink data flow streams corresponding to all identifiers, i.e., radio bearer identities or packet flow identifiers, are disabled.

In this way, the present invention providesmobile device300 with discrete control of the transmission of data streams fromradio network controller302 to each ofdevice interfaces328–330, and therefore supports fine control over multiple data streams, enablingmobile device300 to incrementally control the flow of downlink data on an external interface-by-interface basis. As a result, the present invention enables the individual control over multiple, logical data streams or sets of data streams, each of which may be associated with a specific interface betweenmobile device300 and a local user host. Furthermore, the present invention provides more efficient utilization of resources associated withRF interface304, since, by providing rapid reaction time and fine-control over downlink data arriving fromnetwork306, the present invention reduces the amount of potentially wasted data that is transmitted overRF interface304 so thatmobile device300 buffering resources are conserved and protected against overflow, thereby preventing data from being thrown away should buffering resources be all consumed in attempts to buffer large amounts of downlink data at peak transfer rates.

FIGS. 5A–5E are flowcharts of a method for controlling multiple logical data flow in a variable data rate environment according to the present invention. As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 5A, once a downlink data flow to one ofdevice interfaces328–330 is initiated, such asdevice interface328 for example, and a new packet data protocol context activation is completed,Step500, corresponding packet data protocol context activation information is retrieved byID associating layer322 fromframe transport layer324, including a packet data protocol context associated with the corresponding device interface, and a corresponding identifier, such as a radio bearer identity, for example, or a packet flow identifier,Step502. A new packet data protocol context record is then created,Step504, using the associated packet data protocol context and the identifier, and. includes a packet data protocol context ID and an associated identifier, such as a radio bearer identity, for example, or a packet flow identifier, along with an interface ID to bind the packet data protocol context ID and the associated identifier to one ofdevice interfaces328–330, which is then stored in a memory,Step506.

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 5B, once an event occurs, such as the coupling betweenmobile device300 and one ofdevice interfaces328–330 being corrupted,control processing unit322 searches for the packet data protocol context record using the interface ID,Step508, and determines whether a corresponding record is located,Step510. If a corresponding record is not located,control processing unit332 waits for a next event. However, if a corresponding record is located, meaning an association has been previously made byID associating layer322,control processing unit332 determines whether the general resources ofmobile device300 have been substantially exhausted, and whether resources associated with the corresponding one ofdevice interfaces328–300 has been substantially exhausted. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 5B, according to the present invention,control processing unit322 determines whether an indication has been received fromgeneral resource indicator334 that the general resources ofmobile device300 are less than a low water mark, or whether an indication has been received fromprivate resource indicator336 that resources associated with the corresponding one ofdevice interfaces328–330 are less than a low water mark. In addition, control processing unit determines whether an indication has been received from the one ofdevice interfaces328–330 to disable data flow to that device interface,Step512.

If any one of the indications is received bycontrol processing unit332 inStep512,control processing unit332 transmits a flow control indication to bit-map generator338 informing bit-map generator338 which data flow stream to disable by including the DISABLE status and the corresponding identifier in the flow control indication,Step514, andcontrol processing unit332 then waits for a next event.

However, if none of the indications is received bycontrol processing unit332 inStep512,control processing unit332 then determines whether an indication is received fromgeneral resource indicator334 that the available general resources ofmobile device300 are greater than or equal to a high water mark, meaning an excess amount of resources are available for temporarily storing the downlink data flow, whether an indication is received fromprivate resource indicator336 that the available private resources ofmobile device300 associated with the one or more of device interfaces are greater than or equal to the high water mark, and whether an indication has been received from the one ofdevice interfaces328–330 to enable data flow control to that device interface,Step516. Ifcontrol processing unit332 determines that one of the indications inStep516 has not been received,control processing unit332 waits for a next event. However, ifcontrol processing unit332 determines that all of the indications inStep516 has been received,control processing unit332 transmits a flow control indication to bit-map generator338 informing which data flow stream to enable by including the ENABLE status and the corresponding identifier in the flow control indication,Step518, andcontrol processing unit332 then waits for a next event.

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 5C, once bit-map generator338 receives one of the indications fromcontrol processing unit332 described above in reference toFIG. 5B,Step520, bit-map generator338 then locates the bit within flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400 corresponding to the downlink flow to the corresponding one ofdevice interfaces328–330,Step522. For example, according to the present invention, bit-map generator338 consults a correlation table containing an identifier to bit-number correlation for bit-map400 for each identifier received fromcontrol processing unit332. Bit-map generator338 then determines, for each identifier, whether the corresponding data flow stream is to be disabled,Step524, based on the status information included with the flow control indication received, and sets the corresponding bit value of flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400 to a DISABLE value, zero for example, if flow is to be disabled, Step526, and to an ENABLE value, one for example, if flow is to be enabled,Step528. Once all values in bit-map have been set, the new bit-map is transmitted alongRF interface304 toradio network controller302,Step530.

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 5D, once bit-map400 is received atradio network controller302,Step532,control processing unit344 makes a determination as to whether bit-map400 has changed since last received,Step534. Ifcontrol processing unit344 determines that bit-map400 has not changed since last received,control processing unit344 waits for receipt of a next bit-map400,Step532. Ifcontrol processing unit344 determines that bit-map400 has changed since last received,control processing unit344 then determines whether globalflow control bit402 of bit-map400 has been set to DISABLE in bit-map400,Step536. If it is determined that globalflow control bit402 has been set to disable, control processing unit disables all downlink data flow streams tomobile device300. However, if it is determined that globalflow control bit402 has not been set to DISABLE,control processing unit344 enables downlink flow tomobile device300,Step540, and checks the first bit in flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400 and determines whether the bit is set to DISABLE,Step544.

If it is determined inStep544 that the bit is set to DISABLE, downlink data flow tomobile device300 corresponding to the radio bearer, or corresponding to the packet flow identifier, associated with the identifier correlated with that bit is disabled,Step548. However, if it is determined inStep544 that the bit is not set to DISABLE, downlink data flow tomobile device300 corresponding to the radio bearer, or corresponding to the packet flow identifier, associated with the identifier correlated with that bit is enabled,Step546. The process then continues again using the next bit contained in flowcontrol bit portion406 of bit-map400,Step550, untilSteps544–548 have been performed for each bit in flowcontrol bit portion406.

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 5E, once the downlink transmission has been completed and packet data protocol context deactivation is completed,Step552,ID associating layer322 locates and deletes the stored associated identifier, device interface ID, and packet data protocol context, Steps554–558, so that the context record is deleted from the data store.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is therefore intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (17)

1. A mobile device having a plurality of device interfaces for transmitting data received from a network through a network controller, the mobile device comprising:

a data stack including an identity associating layer, the identity associating layer associating identifiers with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces;

a general resource indicator generating a first indication in response to system memory of the mobile device being substantially exhausted;

a private resource indicator generating a second indication in response to private resources corresponding to the plurality of device interfaces being substantially exhausted;

a control processing unit generating a flow control indication signal in response to the first indication, the second indication, flow control information corresponding to the plurality of interfaces, and the identifiers associated by the identity associating layer; and a bit-map generator generating a bit-map, based on the flow control indication signal, discretely controlling transmission of data from the radio network controller to the plurality of device interfaces.

2. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the bit-map generated by the bit-map generator comprises:

a global flow control bit portion including the first indication; and

a flow control bit portion including bits corresponding to association of the identifiers with the packet data protocol contexts.

3. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the identifier corresponds to a radio bearer identity.

4. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the identifier corresponds to a packet flow identifier.

5. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the flow control information corresponds to an interruption of a coupling at one or more of the plurality of interfaces.

6. A communication system transmitting data between a mobile device and a network through a radio network controller, the mobile device directing the data to a plurality of interfaces, the communication system comprising:

a data stack including an identifier associating layer associating identifiers with packet data protocol contexts corresponding to the plurality of interfaces;

a general resource indicator, positioned in the mobile device, generating a first indication in response to system memory of the mobile device being substantially exhausted;

a private resource indicator generating a second indication in response to private resources corresponding to the plurality of interfaces being substantially exhausted;

a first control processing unit generating a flow control indication signal in response to the first indication, the second indication, flow control information corresponding to the plurality of interfaces, and the identifiers associated by the identity associating layer;

a bit-map generator generating a bit-map based on the flow control indication signal; and

a second control processing unit interpreting the bit-map generated by the bit-map generator and discretely controlling the transmission of the data from the radio network controller to the plurality of interfaces.

7. The communication system ofclaim 6, wherein the bit-map generated by the bit-map generator comprises:

a global flow control bit portion including the first indication; and

a flow control bit portion including bits corresponding to association of the identifiers with the packet data protocol contexts.

8. The communication system ofclaim 6, wherein the identifier corresponds to a radio bearer identity.

9. The communication system ofclaim 6, wherein the identifier corresponds to a packet flow identifier.

10. The communication system ofclaim 6, wherein the flow control information corresponds to an interruption of a coupling at one or more of the plurality of interfaces.

11. The communication system ofclaim 6, further comprising a queuing mechanism receiving and organizing the data transmitted from the network to the radio network controller, wherein, in response to the second control processing unit disabling transmission of one or more data streams from the radio network controller to the plurality of device interfaces, subsequent receipt of the one or more data streams by the radio network controller is inserted within the queuing mechanism.

12. A method for controlling multiple data flow between a mobile device and a network through a radio network controller, comprising the steps of:

associating a packet data protocol context with a corresponding identifier;

generating a flow control bit-map controlling transmission of the data flow to the mobile device, and transmitting the flow control bit-map from the mobile device to the radio network controller; and

discretely controlling transmission of the data flow from the radio network controller to a plurality of interfaces within the mobile device;

wherein the step of generating a flow control bit-map comprises the steps of:

determining whether general resources of the mobile device have been substantially exhausted;

determining whether resources associated with each of the plurality of device interfaces has been substantially exhausted; and

determining whether an indication has been received from each the plurality of device interfaces to disable corresponding transmission of the data flow.

13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising the step of determining whether the flow control bit-map has changed since receipt of a prior generated flow control bit-map.

14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the identifier corresponds to a radio bearer identity.

15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the identifier corresponds to a packet flow identifier.

16. The method ofclaim 12, wherein, in response to general resources of the mobile device being substantially exhausted, resources associated with the plurality of device interfaces being substantially exhausted, and an indication being received from the plurality of device interfaces to disable the transmission of the data flow, the corresponding data flow to each of the plurality of device interfaces is disabled.

17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein, in response to general resources of the mobile device not being substantially exhausted, resources associated with the plurality of device interfaces not being substantially exhausted, and an no indication being received from the plurality of device interfaces to disable the transmission of the data flow, the method further comprises the steps of:

determining whether excess general resources of the mobile device are available;

determining whether excess private resources associated with the plurality of device interfaces is available; and

determining whether an indication has been received from each the plurality of device interfaces to enable corresponding transmission of the data flow.

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